We eagerly anticipate earnings results from diversified service giants Halliburton and Schlumberger each quarter because no companies have a better big picture 30,000-foot view of industry conditions and trends in all major oil and gas-producing regions of the world.

In fact, careful analysis of comments and industry “read-through” from these two companies were a major factor in our 2014 call for a major decline in oil prices. In the most recent quarter, comments on the conference calls for both companies have important implications both for existing Focus List recommendations and a new addition to our Focus List and Active Portfolio.